The New Case
by CrystalSaffron
Summary: AU. Angel (PI) gets a new case about one Buffy Summers. chapter 3 up w/Ch.1&2 revisions.
1. Chapter 1:Fate Happens

Title: The New Case  
  
Author: Crystal  
  
Rating: PG Rite now. Subject 2 change  
  
Summary: AU Angel is a Private Investigator who gets a case about one Buffy Summers.  
  
Dedication: To all of my friends at the lunch table who have (and had) to sit through my long rants about B/A and to all of the people I have annoyed throughout my entire existence. How I pity you.  
  
Disclaimer: ....Yes, I do own them. All of them in fact. This is why I'm writing this story right now instead of making it reality. Get real people.  
  
AN: I started this story and I had a wonderful idea in mind....Then I totally forgot it. But I really liked this beginning so I came up with the idea of the readers controlling the story. So read this first part and then tell me what to do next! ________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 1: Fate Happens  
  
The phone rings and a pretty pregnant brunette picked it up.  
  
"Angel Investigations we help the hopeless. Just a minute please I'll connect you."  
  
She put the phone on hold and walked into a richly decorated office. Tapestries adorned the windows but they are not drawn to keep out the bright morning sun. The richly light colors and mahogany desk contrasts with the young man sitting in a high leather chair. He appeared to be around 28 or so and he defined the very phrase of tall, dark and handsome.  
  
"Angel there's someone on the line...A Rupert Giles who says that he knows you. Are you gonna answer or shall I tell him to take a hike?"  
  
Angel talked without even looking up from his work, "Cordelia what have I told you about being nice to clients you remember last time when.did you say Rupert Giles?"  
  
Cordelia rolled her dark brown eyes and flipped some hair away from her face. "Duh! God, why am I still your secretary? I mean you have millions of dollars and I'm still file girl? I mean when we first started this buisness you said that you would never give me to big of a job to do."  
  
Angel smirked and replies, "As I recall when we first started this buisness you said that you would never fall for Doyle and look what happened."  
  
Cordelia gestured to her enlarged stomach, "Yeah I know but that's different! I mean that's love, this is work. You shouldn't be talking yourself Mister-I-haven't-gone-on-a-date-in-five-years. The least you could do is take a brake from the Private Investigator for a little while and go out with someone. Wasn't there that girl who was fawning all over you?"  
  
"Cordelia, Darla was just attacked by her psychotic ex boyfriend who was sending hit men after her. Anyone could be scared."  
  
"Oh, puh-luze anyone could see she was a ho! I mean seriously she just wanted to jump you."  
  
Angel laughed and then conceded, "Ok, I guess you're right.anyway I have to take this call then we'll discuss my love life ok?"  
  
Cordelia left the room satisfied.for now. 


	2. Chaper 2: Horrible Home lives

Hello! Thank you for all of your ideas! I know I haven't been updating but if you've read my other story then you know that I was busy with that one and I have also been sick recently. Anyway thanks for everyone who responded and a double thanks for everyone who sent me ideas.  
  
Disclaimer: Yes, they are mine. All of them.  
  
Now on to the fic- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 2: Horrible home lives  
  
Angel picked up the phone and answered hesitantly. "Hello?"  
  
"Ahhh, Angel, wonderful to hear from you again. It's been what? Three years?" Rupert's fatherly voice carried over the phone and into Angel's ear.  
  
"Yes, it's been to long. I'm sorry I haven't contacted you it's just I've been really busy and."  
  
"Don't worry about it. I was only the librarian! I mean yes we were close but I knew that you were busy. How are you doing anyway?"  
  
"I'm doing very well thank you. By the way you were and are more than just a librarian to me and always have been! You were my surrogate father!" Angel could nearly hear Giles smile over the phone. He and Giles had always had a strong relationship since the beginning of high school since Angel was the nerdy type. He was handsome but quite shy and an excellent student. He didn't believe in getting wasted every night like some of his fellow students. Right after he graduated, he had decided to go into the private investigating business because one night when he was younger his mother, father, and sister had all been murdered and the case had never been solved. Angel had given up all hope of ever finding the killer but every once and a while he would try to go back into the case to find any missing clues. Angel often blamed himself for their deaths because he had been at a friend's party when he was 15 and although many people had said that it wasn't his fault, he still believed that he could have done something. That was why he never went to any parties after that. He had always hated his father because he cheated on his mother so he didn't care all that much when he was killed but he was very close to his mother and sister so when he found out that they hadn't made it either they were devastated. One day sitting in the library he noticed that some of Mr. Roy's stuff was missing and that some new items were in place of them. He found out that a British man had transferred from the British museum to the school because he had wanted to start a new life for his wife Jenny and himself. His daughter had been murdered and both he and Jenny were distraught and could barley go anywhere without seeing her face. Giles and Jenny had sort of adopted him as their surrogate son and he often stayed over their house instead of his aunt's roach infested shack. Cordelia was also the surrogate daughter as well as Doyle and their friend Spike because none of them had had good home lives. Returning to the present Angel shook his head and realized that Giles had gone silent.  
  
"Um, Giles, not that it isn't wonderful to hear from you again but....Something is wrong isn't it?" Angel heard Giles sigh through the phone and he started to get worried.  
  
"Unfortunately this isn't a personal call. My niece Elizabeth has just gotten into some trouble and we are trying to figure out what actually happened. The bloody American police had thought that she had did it but we all know that she couldn't and-"  
  
Angel cut in before Giles could go any further. " Giles what did your niece supposedly do?"  
  
Giles continued slightly upset. "Well, they had thought that she killed her sister Dawn." When Giles heard Angel suck in a breath he quickly reassured him that he didn't think at all, it was her and that Dawn had been somewhat of an annoyance anyway. He told Angel that Dawn had been hanging out with the wrong group and she had come home that night after the usual drugging it up with her friends upset. She had locked herself in her room and killed herself. The only reason the police thought it might have been Elizabeth was when Joyce came in later and found Elizabeth covered in Dawn's blood holding a knife. Then they later found that the time she had died amounting at the time Joyce saw Elizabeth wouldn't have added up. Plus Elizabeth had been at a friend's party until after Dawn had died. Angel rubbed his head in slight confusion.  
  
"All right but if they think that Elizabeth didn't do it then why do you need to call me?"  
  
"Well, after Dawn's..death, Joyce had screamed at Elizabeth to leave the house because she thought at the time it was her. Later we found a note in her bedroom saying that she hadn't done it and if Joyce had thought that she had done it then she obviously didn't know her daughter. The note told Joyce all about Dawn and what she did every day. Joyce had thought that Dawn was the perfect child and that Elizabeth was the troublemaker. It said that she, Elizabeth, had left to find her own place in the world and that we shouldn't try to find her."  
  
Angel shook his head angrily. This Joyce woman should have known her own daughters and not had thrown her daughter out of the house. That was outrageous! His mother would have never thrown him out of the house. Angel calmed down slightly and then began the interrogation that was familiar to him.  
  
"All right I'm going to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer them as best as you can."  
  
Angel heard Giles chuckle. "You sound like you're asking me where my secret war database is. Yes, of course I'll answer some questions."  
  
Angel continued with a slight smile. "Do you have any idea where she might have gone?"  
  
"She might have gone to a city or somewhere where she could get lost easily. She's pretty smart and she knows that she wouldn't stay somewhere where there weren't a lot of people."  
  
"Okay, is there any specific city that she would have gone to?"  
  
Angel heard Giles pause and he could imagine him take off his glasses and start to clean them. "Maybe New York? Yes, probably New York because she always wanted to act and she always wanted to see Broadway."  
  
Angel himself paused and started to make a mental list of what he would have to pack. "All right, that sounds like a good lead. Is there a name she would probably use? Also, I'll need a picture if she is using a totally different name."  
  
"She will probably be under the name Buffy Summers because her cousin Celia always called her that before she died and Elizabeth always tried to convince people to call her by that name. Summers is her last name and she would refuse to change it. I'll send you a picture of her and that all I can think of now."  
  
"That's perfect Giles. By the way, did you tell Mr. or Mrs. Summers about this?"  
  
"No. Joyce and Elizabeth never had the best of relationships and she only seems to care about Dawn and her funeral right now." Angel could hear the scorn for the older women in his voice and his voice was dripping with disdain in the next sentence. "Mr. Summers is divorced from Mrs. Summers and he hasn't contacted them in a few years."  
  
Angel found himself going back to the days with his father and his relationship with him, but at least then, he had had a mother. What it must have been like to have had a father who left you, a mother who hated you, and a sister who didn't care about anything. He could see why she had run away. "I see. Thank you for the information and I'll get on the case as soon as possible. In fact I'll start packing right away."  
  
"Please find her Angel. Besides Jenny, she's all I have left. I love her as I love you. "  
  
"Of course Giles. I will find her and bring her home safely."  
  
Angel could here Giles' relieved sigh and felt pleased that he could help the older man. He warned Giles that it might take a little while but Giles would have none of it.  
  
"I understand that Angel. I can't thank you enough for your help. I'll send the picture of her immediately over the e-mail."  
  
"Your niece is safe in my hands Giles. (A/N: He he he) Don't worry, she'll be fine."  
  
"Thank you, Angel. It was nice to hear from you again. We should meet up during better circumstances one time."  
  
"Of course Giles, goodbye."  
  
"Goodbye Angel."  
  
Angel hangs up the phone and walks into the main lobby. As he passes Cordelia and Doyle kissing he stops and waits until they notice his presence. They jump apart quickly, caught in the act. Angel just laughs and briefs them on what's going on. After that he asks Cordelia to get the picture of Elizabeth...Or should he call her Buffy?..and for Doyle to book him a one way flight to New York. Cordelia watches him climb up the stairs before calling out to him.  
  
"Hey, what about us? Shouldn't we come too?"  
  
Angel turns back to them and shakes his head with a small grin. "Cordelia, with your condition I don't think you should be going anywhere." Angel hears Cordelia snort in irritation and his smile grows. "I also think that someone who can actually understand the filing should be here and if any cases come up Doyle should be able to handle them for a little while." Doyle looks excited at the prospect of handling the business while Angel is gone while Cordelia looks outraged at Angel.  
  
"Fine, but when you find out that you need me to help you get into clubs and such to find this girl. Don't come crying back to me."  
  
Angel decided to humor her and rolls his eyes to Doyle unseen by Cordelia. "Of course Cordy. I'll be calling you in no time." Cordelia turns her back to him to file some more paperwork.  
  
"Damn right you will. Right Doyle?" Cordelia turns to see Doyle trying not to laugh and glares at him. "Ohhhh, you two! I need another girl in this place to help me! Maybe Angel will finally get a girlfriend soon! Try to look for one during this assignment okay Angel?..Angel?" She turns around again to see that Angel has already gone up stairs to pack. She throws the paperwork back onto the counter and pounds into the office while Doyle cracks up in peels of laughter.  
  
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So what'da think? Hmmm? Do you know how long this is? Wow, Drusilla strikes again.(She's my muse, don't ask.) By the way, I'm sorry for the interpretations of Joyce and Dawn but I needed Buffy to have a bad relationship with them to relate with Angel later in the story. Plus Dawn irked me in the last two seasons she was in and I was still mad a Joyce for telling Angel to leave. However, I'm still sorry! Chow 4 now! ~Crystal 


	3. Chapter 3: Redheaded Saviors

::peaks out from behind barricade:: I surrender! I serrender! I finally wrote ch.3 don't shoot! I'm sorry this took forever folks but I wanted to finish Always and it seems I don't work well unless under pressure so summer wasn't good for me. I've finally gotten off the lazy horse after buying school stuff today and and am preparing to START buckling down for school.but until then .let's enjoy this little fic shall we?  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own...though I wish I did.anyone wanna buy them for mi b-day next week? AUGUST 21 WOOT!  
  
Dedication: To all of you that have waited so very patiently.  
  
And don't worry...Angel and Willow is pure friendship in this fic.  
  
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Chapter 3: Red-headed Saviors  
  
Once Angel stepped off the plane and into New York he realized just how very out of his league he was. He wished that the girl had just run away in California. California he knew very well, even Las Vegas, but New York he wasn't as familiar with. He'd been here a few times helping solve a few cases but that was with the NYPD Blue for help. He had just done most of the solving the murder case and didn't have to track anyone down.  
  
~Oh, Well...Better start somewhere.~ He picked up his bags from the terminal and caught a cab down to a Sheraton in the middle of the city and checked in to a small room. Once he was all set he decided to go out into the city and ask around if anyone had seen her.  
  
Fourty-Five minutes later Angel realized exactly how helpful the citizens of New York were going to be. Absolutely none. Every time he went up to someone to ask about her and show them her picture he was either told to 'Get away fast' in much less polite terms or pointedly ignored. He was pretty frustrated and it was way past lunch time so Angel decided to go for an early dinner.  
  
His feet took him to a little café that was in the less shadier parts of town. Nothing special but perfect for what he was hoping for. He seated himself at a miracously empty table and waited until the waitress took note of him. A pretty-but slightly mousy red-headed girl came to his aid.  
  
"What can I get for ya'?" She spoke in a heavy brooklyn accent which surprised Angel for some reason. She just didn't seem the type to have an accent like that. He shook it off though and smiled quickly at the waitress before speaking.  
  
"I would like a BLT please..and a coffee, black, two sugars." The waitress took that down and looked at Angel once again as if examining him. She kept on looking and Angel started to become uncomftorable. She finally gave a warm smile to him.  
  
"You're not from around here are ya'?" Angel shook his head slightly bitterly.  
  
"What tipped you off? The fact that I don't have an accent? Or the fact that I'm completely lost?" The waitress chuckled.  
  
"The accent mostly but you do have the air of someone who has no clue about anything here. Oh yeah, plus the fact that you were polite, which is a rare occurance around here." Angel chuckled.  
  
"I've noticed." The waitress looked at him again as if criticizing him.  
  
"The only thing is you don't have an air of a tourist. I can tell these things." Angel nodded at her.  
  
"Actually I'm a P.I. and I'm looking for someone, but the city has been..less then helpful." Willow grinned.  
  
"That's New York for ya'. Lemme' just put your order in an' then I'll be right back. The other waitresses can handle the other tables." She walked away and then came back quickly, suprisingly both with the sandwhich and his coffee. At Angel's surprised look she laughed.  
  
"Oh, don't look so surprised. It's not that hard to make a BLT quickly and the coffee was quick enough." Angel gratefully took his dinner, indicated that the waitress should take the seat across from him, and scarfed down his food. The waitress looked on amused until he had finished.  
  
"Hungry?" Angel laughed.  
  
"Just a bit. Oh, by the way. What's your name?" The waitress pointed to her name tag but then realized it wasn't there. She grinned sheepishly before answering.  
  
"Willow Rosenberg." Angel took the offered hand and shook it.  
  
"Angel O'Conner. Pleasure to meet you Willow."  
  
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Yes, yes. I know. How evil of me to stop there, but I need to contemplate if I should outright say where Buffy is and have Angel meet her soon and have him take long trying to convince her to come home. The other option is to have Angel decide that he should approach her cautiously because he's afraid that she'll run. You decide! I appologise again for the lateness and hope that you will not kill me..~Crystal Saffron 


End file.
